Interview with Milow

You’re doing a really extended tour in Europe. How do you cope with it?

It’s…. [laughs]

You’re crazy! I mean, I’m sorry but, I saw that you have a concert one day in Berlin and then the next day you have a concert in like Paris…

[laughs some more] It’s funny because, for me, how do I explain it… it comes so natural. This is my passion. Music. From the moment I get up to the moment that I go to sleep, this is all I think about, seven days a week. This is not a day job. This is what I love to do.

I’m my own boss. There’s no one telling me what to do because I’m my own manager. The fact that I sit here is because I want to, not because someone said you have to. When I tour, when I play six times in seven days, there’s no one I can blame. This is old school. I’m here because I want to be. If you ask me [if I want to] play three concerts or play six and also [play] Stockholm and, let’s say Austria, I’ll say let’s do six. If it’s humanly theoretically possible, I’m going to try it.

Spoken like a true do-it-yourself artist. Nowadays you really have to hustle to be able to make it, especially with the internet.

Musicians know how to make money. [I] can’t say that it’s not important because artists need to be able to live from what they do. But what I can also say is that the crisis has created a lot of possibilities for someone like me because I sort of was able to slip between the cracks with my own thing. Labels like this never, ever discovered me or approached me when I needed it. I had to basically build my own portfolio, do what I want, and then after I proved myself without their support they came in and helped me. And for me that’s fine.

I’m on my own and then when it’s done I say, “Here it is.” And I love that because I can’t have someone else telling me what to do.

You are your own boss and the internet is your tool.

Yeah. I have to say that a few years ago it definitely created some chances for artists like me to sort of find their own way. I think more and more in the future, artists will have to prove themselves first on their own without the help of the big companies. And when you do, when you’ve shown that you can do it then you get the help from them. And maybe that’s a better way because the balance is different.

As a musical artist, what is it you want to achieve? What is your goal?

It’s the long run that I care about. I had already proven that I can do this. The things I want to do and share with people, I have my own music. It was so extreme, the success with Ayo Technology, that I’d rather take one little step back, just wait a minute, just focus and then hopefully find more and more people. This is why I’m here and happy to be here. The album has been released a few months ago but most of Sweden has not heard that I have a new album.

So thank you so much for doing this interview and I hope that people become curious and that slowly but surely this album can find a new audience in Sweden.

I think it will. At least you have one new fan in me.

That’s really great. I really believe that strong albums spread themselves a little bit. This is a slow process. I am the best example of this. I’m 30 now and I wrote my first song 15 years ago. It’s funny because a lot of people tell me, “Yeah, it went really fast for you!” But if you look at the 15 years, it went really slowly. It takes time. You have two people knowing your music then them telling their friends and then you have four, then you have six. If there’s only 200 or 300 people tonight then that’s it, but if next time they tell their friends then next time maybe there’s 400 or 500.

Thank you so much for this interview. Again, I can’t wait to hear you tonight.

And I can’t wait to read later what you will say about my concert!

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Milow is currently on a tour around Europe. To see where he is playing next, visit his site www.milow.com